1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle body and more particularly to an open-top vehicle body. More specifically, the present invention pertains to means for preventing an air stream from blowing into a front passenger compartment while the vehicle is running, with the means being easily retractable without bulking in the compartment.
In the open-top or so called cabriolet type vehicles, there are generally provided with retractable roof structures which can be moved between an extended position of the vehicle where the roof structure covers the top portion of the vehicle body and a retracted position where the roof structure is retracted into the vehicle rear body section to open the top portion of the vehicle body. In the extended position, the roof structure is secured to the front edge portion of a front windshield. When the vehicle is operated so that the roof structure is retracted to open the top portion of the body, an air flow toward the compartment is shut off by the front windshield. However the height of the windshield is restricted in order to reduce an air resistance during running and for a good external appearance so that there is produced a problem that a part of an air flow deflected upwardly by the windshield produces a downward and turbulent flow in the vicinity of the rear seat and is directed from the rear body forwardly to the passenger compartment. Such forwardly directed air stream chills the passengers in the front seats uncomfortably. In order to eliminate this problem, there has been proposed for instance, a structure of a windshield provided with an air deflector which is projected upwardly from the upper end of the windshield to thereby divert the air stream upwardly from the passenger compartment. However, in the proposed structure, the deflector become an obstacle when the roof structure is moved to the extended position so that the deflector is needed to be removed in the extended position of the roof structure. In constituting such removable deflector, the deflector is subjected to a severe wind pressure during running of the vehicle so that the removable deflector is necessary to be mounted on the windshield rigidly. This means that the fixing structure of the deflector becomes complicated undesirably. Additionally, it is necessary to prepare a space for the deflector.
In this connection, Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 61-59121 laid-open to the public on Apr. 21, 1986, discloses an air flow deflecting device provided with a deflector which is mounted on the front windshield to move in the up and down direction. The deflector is adapted to project or retract in the windshield in response to the operation of the retractable roof structure.
In the structure disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model application, the deflector is retracted downwardly to be overlapped with the upper portion of the windshield when the roof structure covers the passenger compartment so that the deflector reduces the visual range of the passengers through the front windshield. This reduced visual range would be uncomfortable to the passengers.